I don't think it's emphasized enough how much foods high in sodium are important out there. I took really good care of myself this year out there... or so I thought. I drank water like a fish but didn't have enough sodium in my food and didn't drink electrolytes and ended up in medical for dehydration...
Folks, eat pickles, eat bacon, eat miso soup! Or at least make sure you are replacing your electrolytes with gatorade or electrolyte replacement powder, otherwise you might end up like I did... completely sober, not a bruise on my body, but still in the medical tent.

Yep - I learned the salt factor the hard way by becoming very dehydrated (not at BM, just personal everyday experience) and then discovering how verrrrry much better I felt when I caved into my craving for salty foods. Your body tells you what you need if you know what the signs are, but you have to discover those signs individually. Applied to daily life - salty foods (and accompanying water) are the best cure for hangovers, too! *Now* I know why they serve salty munchies at bars, and why Bloody Marys are great the morning after!

Mmmmm...cheeze balls! Darn it - now I'm going to have to run to my local Zupan's market for some... Major munchies!!!

To help combat stress fatigue in a harsh environment, my boyfriend and I took a multivitamin every day as well as drank lots of Gatorade and water (we each drank probably a gallon or so of just the water alone per day without forcing ourselves to). I think one of the things I'm definitely going to do next year is bring lots more bratwursts and salty breakfast meats like bacon and breakfast sausages. Also, bananas are good for the potassium content which is a must for a healthy cellular sodium/potassium exchange...the resulting dehydration from imbalanced electrolytes really messes you up, it's hard to get rid of if you don't do it right, plus makes you downright cranky and icky feeling (pukey is more like it). I'm pretty sure dried banana chips are sufficient and they're in all kinds of trail mixes. Without enough potassium, muscle cramps happen and with all the bike riding I know a lot of us did, I'd hate to be trying to out-manuever a white-out duststorm's leading edge and get a cramp in my leg...

I brought several jars of garlic-stuffed green olives. It doesn't get much saltier than that! They can be kept out of the cooler until the jar seal is broken. But they taste ever so much better when they're chilled.

I'm told they have many uses: The eplayan formerly known as Badger made a martini of sorts by plunking 4 green olives into a cup with the contents of one cold PBR.

Living in Arizona, I see going to BRC every summer as a chance to escape the heat! Soy Peanuts (salty & honey covered) are a good way to get your sodium fix, and they have that extra good stuff you need.

For us, it was pretty simple - lots and lots of ramen. That's not all we ate, but we did have some every day, and made sure to drink all the broth. This is especially good to do right before embarking on a night of alcohol consumption.

I second the recommendation of miso soup. You can get it as a paste in a small plastic tub. Keep it in your cooler along with some boiled eggs or tofu and maybe scallions. Chop the boiled eggs or tofu & scallions and add them along with a few generous scoops of miso paste to very hot water.

I had a nice quart sized water bottle with sholder strap. I put in about 1/2 to 1/4 the directed amount of powdered Gatoraid everytime I filled up. NOTE: be carefull with Gatoraid or other electrolyte drinks (and salt in general), you CAN have too much electrolytes and that WILL fuck you up as much as not drinking enough water. If you have too much electrolyte in your system, your body needs to flush it out and will drain your body of water in the process.

rodent (putting the eek in geek)
"There's not a word yet,
for old friends, who just met"
-Gonzo, "I'm Going to go Back There Someday"

dragonflyannie wrote:I don't think it's emphasized enough how much foods high in sodium are important out there. I took really good care of myself this year out there... or so I thought. I drank water like a fish but didn't have enough sodium in my food and didn't drink electrolytes and ended up in medical for dehydration... Folks, eat pickles, eat bacon, eat miso soup! Or at least make sure you are replacing your electrolytes with gatorade or electrolyte replacement powder, otherwise you might end up like I did... completely sober, not a bruise on my body, but still in the medical tent.

... yet another valuable bm lesson learned for meeeee......

Guess who ended up in medical for the second damn year in a row! I had Dragontear and myself, camelbaks that got heavy use, and 42 gallons of water, not including ice, grape juice, orange juice and more. I couldn't find the gatorade and I didn't eat much besides MRE's and even then I was too picky, and I crashed hard. REMSA brought me back to life but I was so embarassed. I thought I'd prepared. I did, but on food prep I sucked. And what's even more embarassing is I had a microwave with me and I still didn't fix the right food or eat well. I royally screwed up my food this year.

04 will NOT be like the last two years. And Tiara's garlic olives were fantastic. I'm still craving those things after she got me started on 'em.

Oh, another tip. If your a caffeine junky like I am, don't wait until 2 weeks before BM to cut back and get hydrated. At least the REMSA people have cool hangers to hold those IV bags...multi-colored plastic seahorses and other shapes give you something to look at when lying flat on your back in the Medical tent.

Oh yes Olives are key-lots of them. Pickles. Smoked almonds are delicious. And our beloved Cheese Goop! But honestly, I'm still disturbed about that confused soul winding up in the medical tent-SOBER. That's where you went wrong-------

P.S. Back to Trader Joe's-they sell individual (burnable) packets of dehydrated miso soup. Score! Bodes very well on a freezing predawn drug coming down brain/stomach too.

And don't forget to eat your garlic! A clove a day keeps everything at bay. Really helps with a hangover too.